Cadillac SRX First Generation Forum - 2004 - 2009 Discussion, 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration in Cadillac SRX Forums; I have a 2004 SRX that when you take off heavy or fast there is a ratcheting noise that sounds ...

2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

I have a 2004 SRX that when you take off heavy or fast there is a ratcheting noise that sounds like a loud banging under the car. if you take off easy it does not happen, otherwise the car drives fine. Trying to diagnose this problem Thanks Jim

Re: 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

I have a 2005 doing the same thing. Take off from stop at heavy acceleration and its a popping ratcheting sound just for a few seconds. The driver side front brake is also squeaking when I turn the wheel and the brakes, rotors etc. Are new. Let me know what you find out I was told the axle.

Re: 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

SOunds like gm has given us all the slip here!
What you are hearing is the transfer chain slipping on the drive sprocket inside of the transfer case. THIS HAS RECALL WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!!!! but gm told us to get bent. I have the same problem in mine and will never in my life spend hard earned money on a GM. I have talked to so many others with the same problem! Gm got wind of this and started using a new BETTER chain to correct the problem but never made good on all the "defected " ones that got by and started slipping at 50,000 miles.
Cobra trans in fla can help you out.

Heres what i found.....

All wheel drive versions for both engines come with the Borg Warner BW-4476 transfer case. The BW4476 for the SRX originally came with the CT-HV-080 chain and later superseded by the CT-HV-095. The 095 was developed for the Cadillac 265 and 295. Our understanding is the 095 chain is a bit stronger than the 080 chain.

A common problem arising with this unit is a stretched chain. If caught and fixed early enough the damage should be limited just to the chain.

The common symptom is a popping noise coming from underneath the vehicle, especially when at a dead stop and speeding up. The noise could be heard when the vehicle is under a heavy load.

The important thing to keep in mind is to replace the chain as soon as you suspect a problem so the sprockets do not get ruined, thus increasing the cost of the repair.

Re: 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

I have a 2004 V8 AWD, and am getting the same problems. i am not too thrilled about it. I would expect a little more from a Cadillac. It is looking more and more like i will have to make the switch to Japanese when the time comes, seeing as how my other vehicles have gone that way as well.

Yup. All cars breakdown it's a fact of life. It's just a rage thing "I'm mad at you so I'll threaten to buy something else next time" let's face it this is a car that is 8 or 9 model years old and newer revisions of this model were updated to fix this issue. Also this was the first year of this platform that needs to be taken into consideration. The srx was completely new with most interior things borrowed from CTS that was new as well just 1 year prior but drivetrain wise completely different than the CTS.

Re: 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

SOunds like gm has given us all the slip here!
What you are hearing is the transfer chain slipping on the drive sprocket inside of the transfer case. THIS HAS RECALL WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!!!! but gm told us to get bent. I have the same problem in mine and will never in my life spend hard earned money on a GM. I have talked to so many others with the same problem! Gm got wind of this and started using a new BETTER chain to correct the problem but never made good on all the "defected " ones that got by and started slipping at 50,000 miles.
Cobra trans in fla can help you out.

Heres what i found.....

All wheel drive versions for both engines come with the Borg Warner BW-4476 transfer case. The BW4476 for the SRX originally came with the CT-HV-080 chain and later superseded by the CT-HV-095. The 095 was developed for the Cadillac 265 and 295. Our understanding is the 095 chain is a bit stronger than the 080 chain.

A common problem arising with this unit is a stretched chain. If caught and fixed early enough the damage should be limited just to the chain.

The common symptom is a popping noise coming from underneath the vehicle, especially when at a dead stop and speeding up. The noise could be heard when the vehicle is under a heavy load.

The important thing to keep in mind is to replace the chain as soon as you suspect a problem so the sprockets do not get ruined, thus increasing the cost of the repair.

Nice write-up and research 2005, you nailed it. But don't stress getting it fixed immediately when the noise is first heard and detected. My '04 v8 northstar got so bad it'd barely start moving from a complete stop on ANY incline, where I was finally forced to quit driving it until fixed. I ordered the Cobra chain replacement and did the repair to find the sprockets were all still in PERFECT condition. Yes, the root cause is the OEM chain is weak and stretches out at around 30-50k miles and more than likely won't hurt your sprockets.... The link I posted above is of JD2004 writing up an excellent step-by-step guide to DIY. I completed the repair a few yrs ago and have put almost 75k miles on our new chain with no more issues whatsoever. I even punch the accelerator quite often. Great pictures are included in the link as well to help anyone who has 8-12 hours to do this work themselves and save a ton of money. Yes, GM really shot themselves in the foot on this one by not doing a much needed recall. I'm certain they lost A LOT of good customers in denying this design flaw. Only serves to confirm how GM upper management are complete idiots... I love cadillacs but this is a real shame!!

Re: 2004 SRX ratcheting noise at heavy acceleration

Originally Posted by Ludacrisvp

Yup. All cars breakdown it's a fact of life. It's just a rage thing "I'm mad at you so I'll threaten to buy something else next time" let's face it this is a car that is 8 or 9 model years old and newer revisions of this model were updated to fix this issue. Also this was the first year of this platform that needs to be taken into consideration. The srx was completely new with most interior things borrowed from CTS that was new as well just 1 year prior but drivetrain wise completely different than the CTS.

A new platform is expected to have some issues in its first year.

Oh...well that's okay then, I'm sure they gave a price break on a 1st year car that was going to be rife with problems then, right? Surely they wouldn't charge over 50k for a vehicle with known issues and no recalls yes?